So sorry again for not posting. I'm so bad at slacking, plus I've been super busy at work and life things.
I've suddenly developed a loving for a new author in my world. Her name? Anne Stuart.
Amazon's book description:
Chloe Underwood, a 23-year-old American who regards herself as a disappointment to her high-achieving family, makes a meager living in Paris by translating children's books into English. After accepting a last-minute translating job in the French countryside, she discovers that rather than working for a consortium of food executives, she's stumbled upon a group of sadistic international arms dealers. Cold-blooded assassin Bastian Touissant, who was sent a year earlier by a nebulous "the ends justify the means" agency to infiltrate this shady group and try to stop its illegal activity, seems to blend right in. On meeting Chloe, Bastian isn't sure whether she's a spy, perhaps sent to kill him, or the innocent she appears to be. Despite his ruthlessness, Bastian can't resist saving Chloe's life (on multiple, graphic occasions) and attempting to send her back to her family in the U.S.
One thing Stuart does amazingly right that most romance authors do not: she doesn't soften the characters up too much. Bastian is a killer and he remains one at the end of the book. He doesn't suddenly become a big mushy sentimental guy because he realizes he loves Chloe. He doesn't lose that edge that you've loved from him throughout the entire book. Sure, I love mushy sentimental books like every romance reader, but I like true characterization every now and then. Stuart doesn't lay the sap on too thickly and her sex scenes aren't over the top or too many that you get bored with the amount of sex in one book lol.
I really recommend everyone pick up an Anne Stuart book if you like romance and you like suspense/thrillers. I also recently read Cold As Ice by her as well and although I didn't like the characters as much as Bastian and Chloe (who make a brief appearance), I still loved Stuart's writing.
Grade: A+
Sorry about my lack of blogging here, I've been meaning to but I've just been busy and honestly? I use Live Journal a lot more *blush*
So to make up for my slacking off, here is a meme I found interesting:
Romance Meme
Contemporary, Historical, or Paranormal?
Contemporary and then historical, in that order. I've never read a paranormal romance and I can't say that I'm really that interested in one :S
Mass market always. They are cheaper and I like the size as well. Trade paperback are more expensive and hardcovers are super expensive in Canada.
Heyer or Austen?
Um, hello? I'm an Austen fiend in book and movie form. I love all things Austenite.
Amazon or Brick and Mortar?
Never been to Brick and Mortar so Amazon obviously.
Barnes & Noble or Borders?
Don't have these in Canada so I'll say Chapters.
Woodiwiss or Lindsay?
I read a Lindsay once and it was very cliche, not that most romances aren't. Never read Woodiwiss.
First romance novel you ever remember reading?
Danielle Steel's Season of Passion.
Alphabetize by author Alphabetize by title or random?
By author because I'm an anal librarian :)
Keep, Throw Away or Sell?
I always keep every book I buy. I'm a book and movie pack rat.
Read with dustjacket or remove it?
Read with it.
Sookie Stackhouse or Anita Blake?
I've heard of Anita Blake, but never read her stuff. Never even heard of Sookie Stackhouse.
Stop reading when tired or at chapter breaks?
I usually stop at chapter or page breaks. It's easier to find your spot then.
“It was a dark and stormy night?” or ?“Once upon a time”?
It was a dark and stormy night.
Crusie or SEP?
Crusie. I love Crusie :) I think she's funny and a great writer.
Buy or Borrow?
Buy, but lately I've been borrowing from the library. It's just easier and less expensive.
Buying choice: Book Reviews, Recommendation or Browse?
Most
of the time I browse the stacks.
Tidy ending or Cliffhanger?
Tidy, always tidy. Real life is messy, I like things tidied up in my books.
Morning reading, Afternoon reading or Nighttime reading?
Afternoon and nighttime reading. I love reading before I go to sleep.
Series or standalone?
Usually standalone books. It's hard to stay focused on a series I find.
Favorite book of which nobody else has heard?
Hmmm.... I can't say there are a lot I read that no one else has heard of. I'm more of a mainstream gal myself. :)
For those of you who don't read my Live Journal (which is friends locked for most posts lately due to nosy friends who know my LJ name), I finally managed to get a job!
I went in for an interview last Thursday afternoon and it went really well. The head librarian of the business library (it's an academic library) was really amazingly nice. He made me feel more comfortable and hence I was more relaxed. There was an HR woman in the interview as well and she was very nice, but sometimes she seemed a bit standoffish. That's fine, I know she has to go by a certain protocol.
Anyway! I will be work at the university I got my B.A. and my M.L.I.S. from, which is really nice. It's in the area obviously. Now I can start making some money and have some to spend on people for Christmas. I may even get a credit card! *gasp* Haven't ever had one, shocking I know.
My job also is unionized, which means I will have benefits and this is fabulous. I love benefits. I NEED benefits. I always seem to have some dental issue when I go to the dentist, not to mention my medication needs for my anxiety that helps me stay sane day to day.
I just wanted to share my good news with those here who don't know about my LJ. I will try to post some more book reviews for those interested. I've just been going through books so quickly lately that by the time I get around to wanting to reviewing one, I'm onto another and forget what I was going to say.
So, I thought I would post here because I haven't in a little bit and I've been complaining at my Live Journal way too much. Instead, I will do it here.
I have no job and my one friend from library school has a part-time job at a university library and has had an interview at the local public library, as well as my other library school friend. This is severely upsetting me because I have sent out a lot of resumes and have heard nothing back. No interviews, nothing. I don't know what the matter with me or my resume is, but I'm not impressed. *sigh*
I just have this horrible feeling that I am going to be unemployed forever. I don't know how I am going to show my face at my graduation if I don't have a job and have had no interviews. I honestly don't know if I can do it. It's so humiliating.
Sorry everyone for my lack of posting book reviews. I've been a little bit busy looking for work and everything and it slipped my mind. I promise to have one soon for those interested :D
Well, I finish Nora Roberts MacGregor Brides recently and I thought I should write a review of it for those interested.
Now, anyone who knows me that Nora Roberts is my favourite author other than Jane Austen. Nora is the tops in the romance world for me and you cannot beat her writing style, though I do love other romantic authors like Linda Howard, Julie Garwood, Elizabeth Lowell and more. With Nora though, it's never hit and miss for me. Sometimes with the other authors I've mentioned, you can pick up one of their novels and feel that it wasn't their best work. It's never this way with Nora, at least for me.
This novel is broken into three separate, but linking parts. The main characters Laura, Gwen and Julia are all modern day career women focused on their individual lives. They are cousins living in the same house together and share the same meddling grandfather who thinks they should get married and have babies to perpetuate the MacGregor line. While I think it's sweet that the grandfather, Daniel, cares about his granddauthers, I also found it a bit sexist of him to think that they should get married young and have kids soon after. This did not hamper my enjoyment of the book, though.
The first story focuses on Laura, the second on Gwen and the third on Julia. I liked that the stories were connected since the women were all related so that I could see what happened with the past characters while still enjoying the new. Roberts keeps all the characters around and I love that. She follows the same path with her trilogy books. I felt that the romances were a bit quick, but that is to be expected since there were 3 in one book. The only downside to that is that we don't get as much character development as we would in a three part trilogy, but then again, this was a Silhoutte imprint originally and they don't usually do trilogies.
So, overall, very good book and a quick read. I can't ever give Nora a thumbs down :)
Grade: A
Up next: Janice Harrell's The Secret Diaries trilogy. It's young adult fiction I have had since I was 14ish, but it's still enjoyable. Who says you can't read these books later in life?
Sorry for the lack of blogging here lately, school is almost over (1 day left!!!) so I have been super busy with assignments and even have an exam tomorrow, blah. Sorry to those of you who actually read this and are interesting my bookish thoughts, which I'm begininng to think is only my friend Sarah lol.
Anyway, I just finished Laurie King's The Beekeeper's Apprentice for my exam and thought it was a pretty good detective fiction. King takes on Conan Doyle's character of Sherlock Holmes and teams him up with a 15 year old girl named Mary Russell. Russell grows older throughout the novel and she soon becomes his apprentice in all things detection.
I'm a bit of a novel purist at times, so I had some issues with the idea of King writing the character of Holmes since it was a Conan Doyle creation and who can do it better than he can? Also, the characterization of Mary Russell at times was very late 20th century and I found that distracting since women obviously did not do certain things back then. I suppose this is the writer's choice and she does it willfully, but still, it was distracting.
Grade: B+
Up next: MacGregor Brides by Nora Roberts
I'm so worried that I won't be able to find a job once I graduate. My classes end on August 13th and I haven't really applied for any jobs yet, though I should be probably. What worries me most is that there seems to be few jobs listed in the area I live so I will be apply to public, academic and special libraries that haven't solicited it.
Most of the jobs I have seen listed are in Toronto, the United States and oddly enough, out in the Prairies. No offense to any of those places, but I don't want to move that far. I live near London, Ontario and I want to stay in this area. I love it here and my family is here as well. If that limits my job opportunities, what can I do about it?
So, my question is this for my fellow other librarians or soon to be's: are any of you worried/paranoid about not finding a job like me?
So, I just finished this novel two days ago for my Literary Appreciation course. It was a good novel overall, but I did find it to be slow to start, which may bother other readers.
The novel is in first person narration, by the main character Del (Della). Del starts the novel as a young girl growing up in South Western Ontario with her younger brother and parents. Her father is a fox farmer, which is all I will tell you since this part disturbed me greatly as a vegetarian and animal rights activist. If I was conducting a reader's advisory, I would steer people like myself away from this novel.
Anyway, Del grows up on the farm with her father and mother and then her parents separate so she, her brother and her mother can live in the small city/town nearby. Del tells us her experiences growing up from a child to her early 20's. I thought it was interesting the way she described the life of a girl becoming a woman. Her mother hates patriarchy, but Del does not seem to have a problem with it until she gets her first serious boyfriend. There are some sexual experiences in the novel, one fairly graphic one that will leave you cringing, and as such it is not suitable for younger audiences.
Overall, a good novel in the tradition of early Margaret Atwood (i.e. The Edible Woman). I'd recommend it to those who like rural and Canadian literature. Grade: B+
